Spotlight
Spotlight Date: 1-May-05
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)
Like a great dinner conversation, Errol Morris' Fast, Cheap & Out of Control produces an intense feeling of satisfaction that continues to stimulate long after it's over. The documentary is a study of four remarkable fellows — a wild animal trainer, a gardener, a mole rat specialist, and a robot engineer — whose apparently diverse lives point to similar conclusions about the nature of man. Morris binds their stories by highlighting that which is essentially human, and he does so with such a steady pace and light atmosphere that contemplating his ideas is an ongoing pleasure.
The first noticeable similarity between the subjects of the film is a relationship with unusual critters. (Their stories are intertwined, so the shared themes multiply and strengthen as the picture progresses.) Dave Hoover has spent his entire life taming lions and tigers for the circus; George Mendonça has grown old keeping a private garden filled with topiary animals; Ray Mendez makes a living indulging his passion for naked mole rats (a rare mammal that lives in insect-like colonies); and Rodney Brooks designs robots which appear to have goals and inclinations. Like every good documentary subject, each man is ardently devoted to what he does; and what he does is define himself (sometimes openly, sometimes obliquely) by trying to master the world around him.
Although the movie is more interested in the similarities between the subjects than their diverseness, the foursome can be separated into two philosophical (and perhaps generational) pairs. The older men speak of controlling the natural forces with which they work, such as not letting lions know they're stronger than their tamer, or waging a constant battle against wind, rain, bugs, and the atrophy of plant life. The younger men talk about comprehending the natural world and then responding to this knowledge, by designing a zoo habitat for mole rats, for example, or building machines through a process that mimics the evolution of mankind. Each believes that he wields a certain power that makes him what he is (strong or smart, commander or creator), but their beliefs stem from different assumptions about the source and application of that power.
Between interview segments, Morris intersperses scenes from funny old sci-fi movies and images from a circus that suggest how inseparable humans are from curiosity, ambition, and imagination. These help weave a common thread and, along with the quirkiness of the interviewees and Caleb Sampson's score, lend the film its sense of humor. As Fast, Cheap & Out of Control comes to a close, the predominant impression is not human vs. nature but human nature, our inherent need to figure out how we fit into the bigger picture. Morris ends by emphasizing the mortality of the older men (there will always be one thing we can't control) and the potentially frightening consequences of the younger (Rodney's theory that robots are the next step in evolution earns him a mad-scientist sendoff). As in all discussions of Who We Are and Why We're Here, the movie illustrates that man is beautifully fragile in his brazen attempt to dictate the course of life. And it's because we never tire of wondering about ourselves that the movie is so enjoyable.
Copyright © 2005 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.
